1. Castle Road bus stop

The bus stops opposite Albany Park which, truth be told, is something of a disappointment. It’s more like a recreation ground than a park so has very few facilities. Still, it was good to see the grass is gradually reverting to green from its dull brown of the summer months. And the park does have an interesting history. Albany Park opened in 1902, laid out on former farmland and allotments. The park was extended in 1921, 1926 and 1935 when it reached its current size, thanks to Enfield Borough Council and the help of a grant of £1,100 from the King George’s Fields Foundation. During WWII, the railings on one side of the park were removed for the war effort and the park was used for growing vegetables.

2. Forty Hill bus stop

Now this is the place to start the route in reality. Walk towards the Forty Hall estate. Forty Hall is a Jacobean manor house, now a museum and a positive delight. It was built by Sir Nicholas Rainton, former Lord Mayor of London, between 1629 and 1632. As you wander from room to room, you’ll discover the story of Forty Hall and the families who lived and worked here and how their choices influenced the house and its surrounding landscape. After Rainton’s death, the estate was passed down to his great-nephew and stayed in the family until 1799. The Meyer family were residents for almost a century when in 1895, Carrington Bowles purchased the estate for his eldest son, Henry Ferryman Bowles. Henry was a local politician who served as the Conservative MP for Enfield.

Sir Henry and his wife had one daughter, Wilma Mary Garnault Bowles. When Wilma married Eustace Parker in 1913, the double-barrelled name Parker Bowles was officially created via Royal Licence to preserve the family name and inheritance. Wilma and Eustace’s son, Derek Parker Bowles, moved to Forty Hall in 1939 to help manage the estate. His son, Brigadier Andrew Parker Bowles, was born in 1939 and spent his early childhood years living at the estate. He would later marry Camilla Shand (now Queen Camilla) in 1973.

Inside the Hall, you can explore a series of beautifully restored period rooms, including the Great Hall, where visitors would have been received, the Parlour, the Bedchamber and the 17th-century kitchen. The rooms contain period furniture, objects and displays which help bring the lives of the people who lived and worked here to life. The house was substantially restored in 2012, when layers of paint, wallpaper and panelling revealed more about how it had changed over the centuries. There is also a room devoted to the history of Elsyng Palace, the royal palace that once stood on what is now the Forty Hall estate. In its day, Elsyng was a substantial Tudor palace associated with Henry VIII and Elizabeth I; archaeological excavations have revealed that it was on a scale comparable with Hampton Court. The palace was eventually demolished around 1656, and today its buried remains are a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

The house is only part of the attraction. Forty Hall sits within 273 acres of historic parkland, with an ornamental lake, medieval fishing ponds and streams, pleasure grounds, woodland and meadows. The restored Walled Garden is particularly lovely, while the grounds also contain one of England’s oldest Cedar of Lebanon trees. The former Elsyng Palace site lies somewhere beneath this landscape, making the estate a fascinating mixture of visible history and archaeology hidden beneath the grass.

3. Enfield War Memorial bus stop

As the stop suggests, the bus delivers you right at the War Memorial. It’s a cenotaph style monument and is grade II listed. The memorial was built in 1921 to commemorate the deaths in WWI of the men of Enfield. The names of men who died in WWII were subsequently added. It’s set within a rectangular paved area and a boundary of stone pillars linked by chains. The area immediately in front of the memorial has been beautifully planted with ornamental grasses, shrubs and seasonal flowers, creating an attractive setting for the monument.

Over the pathway is the Millennium Fountain sculpture. It’s by Wendy Taylor and commemorates the project to restore the nearby New River Loop. It’s in the form of a sundial which is man’s oldest astronomical instrument. The gnomon (the part that casts the shadow to indicate the time of day) is pointing true North and is parallel to the axis of the Earth. It’s appropriately sited near the New River Loop inside Chase Green Gardens. It was originally constructed between 1609 and 1613 by Sir Hugh Myddelton to bring fresh drinking water from Hertfordshire to London.

Gentleman’s Row provides a historic backdrop to this part of Enfield, with the Jephcott Bridge, Millennium Fountain sculpture and Enfield War Memorial all grouped together and surrounded by its distinctive collection of historic houses. Gentleman’s Row takes its name from the wealthy and well-connected residents who built substantial houses here from the 17thC onwards. Today the street is an unusually well-preserved collection of historic buildings, ranging from timber-framed houses to Georgian residences, many of them listed.

4. Enfield Town/Church Street bus stop

There’s a cluster of places to see from this stop, most of it art related. First of all, head over to the Dugdale Arts Centre. This arts venue is a cultural hub offering a theatre, an interesting museum and arts and crafts workshops as well as a venue for writing and poetry. The Arts Centre is named after Florence Dugdale who was born in Edmonton in 1879. Although she trained as a teacher, her passion was for writing and she began publishing children’s stories and reviews in the Enfield Observer and then in national magazines. Her life changed in 1905 when she wrote a letter to her literary hero, famous novelist Thomas Hardy. Although he was 38 years her senior, Thomas and Florence rapidly became close friends. Some years later, after Hardy’s first wife died, Florence Dugdale married Thomas Hardy.

While here, have a look at the museum. It’s small but nevertheless tells its own story. As well as displaying many artefacts from Enfield days gone by, there are Roman coffins and more information about the now-demolished Elsyng Palace, which you may have already read about at Forty Hall (see above). Here you can see some painted floor tiles and personal possessions that were discovered from the palace such as a hair comb and belt buckle. A vibrant mural adorns one wall of the Centre – it’s by artist Laura McKendry and is intended to bring joyful movement using bold shapes and colours.

Next take a walk to Saddlers Square where you’ll see four classic red K6 telephone boxes standing together. Designed in 1935 by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, they are Grade II listed and have been a familiar feature of Enfield Town since the 1930s. A brief history of the K6 – it was commissioned by the General Post Office in 1935 to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of King George V. The design needed to be suitable for universal use, not repeating the mistakes of earlier kiosks. The K2 and K3 were attractive designs but had proved problematic. The K2 was too large and too expensive; the K3 too brittle.

Also in the Square are The Stepping Posts and River Path, a series of sculptural features that celebrate Enfield’s connection with water. The stepping posts and flowing lines of the river path represent the New River and the waterways that have shaped the town, while the incorporated words and poetry reflect Enfield’s history and local stories. Together they create a visual reminder of the river that runs through the town, much of it now hidden from view.

Set within Palace Gardens shopping centre is a large mural that spans a whole walkway between shops. It’s “A Stroll through Enfield Town”. The artwork celebrates Enfield Town’s unique history, culture and community. It brings together stories of the town’s market roots, literary heritage, historic buildings, industries and innovations, and much-loved spaces like the library. At the same time, it captures the contemporary energy of the bustling market and town centre.

Still within the same area is Enfield Town Library where in the grounds outside is a water fountain but not a traditional one. It is a flush-to-the-ground “dry plaza” fountain. This means that when the water is turned off, the space acts as a completely flat, open public plaza.

The library itself was constructed using funding provided by the Scottish-American steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, as part of his global initiative to expand public access to education. The building was designed in the Edwardian/English Baroque style and was officially opened July 19, 1912. It still has a grand feeling to it with its red brick exterior complemented with stone dressing. There is now an extension to this Edwardian building and it was opened by the then poet-laureate Sir Andrew Motion.

One final place to visit while you’re in the vicinity is St Andrew’s Churchyard. The church isn’t always open (as was the case on the day of my visit) which is a shame because it has a rich history. The parish church was first documented in 1136, with surviving 12thC masonry including portions of the east wall and sanctuary south wall. The historic churchyard contains roughly 1,780 recorded memorials, including a variety of notable 18thC tombs and paved walkways connecting the grounds to the Vicarage walled garden. One such tomb is that of Samuel Garnault, who died in 1827. He was Treasurer of the New River Company of Enfield for 22 years. He shares a tomb with Samuel Carver, friend of the family and business partner of Henry Carrington Bowles (who had married Garnault’s niece).

There is a monument with a Celtic cross in the grounds – this is the grave of William Stephen Ridewood, who was headmaster of Enfield Grammar School. Ridewood had a long connection with the school, having been a pupil there before returning as its headmaster. His grave lies in the churchyard, just yards from the historic school buildings where he once taught.

5. Ponders End station bus stop

From here, walk towards the River Lea Navigation and you’ll first see South Island Marina. It was developed by a Michael Pinnock in the early 1990s, from being a derelict and overgrown area into a fully functioning marina. Initially Michael’s father’s main reason for developing the moorings was for somewhere to store the family’s own narrow boat and those of friends, but the need for safe and secure moorings in the area developed the site into a professionally run marina operation.

Round the corner from here is Ponders End Lock, where the waterway passes beneath the Lea Valley Road Bridge. The bridge’s rather utilitarian concrete structure is a reminder of the changing character of Ponders End, where the historic waterway sits alongside modern transport infrastructure. Ponders End Lock is on the Lea Navigation, which was constructed from 1766 under the supervision of the celebrated engineer John Smeaton. The present lock was duplicated and mechanised in 1959, when a second chamber was added to increase the capacity of the waterway.

Just beside the lock are three small rust-coloured metal sculptures set in the grass beside the towpath. There seemed to be no information identifying the artist or giving them individual titles, but their weathered, industrial appearance seems particularly appropriate in this setting, surrounded by the Navigation and the area’s former industrial landscape. They are the sort of unexpected pieces of public art that make exploring the bus routes worthwhile.

6. Monmouth Road bus stop

This is the final stop on this route and where you’ll find a cluster of things to see in one place. It’s the Covid memorial garden to commemorate all the Enfield people who had died during the pandemic. The official opening was in August 2023 and as well as being a memorial, it was also an opportunity to give thanks and to recognise the tireless work that NHS staff, council and the voluntary sector undertook during the pandemic. The garden is a small space where anyone can sit quietly and reflect. There is a sculptural ribbon by artist Rafael Klein which weaves through two sections of the garden and incorporates residents’ stories, drawings and words from the workshops, memories and experiences of the pandemic – and carries their hopes for future.

Set in the pavement in front of the garden is a quote by Daniel Defoe. The quote comes from his book A Tour Thro’ the Whole Island of Great Britain and is engraved into the (Covid) memorial’s path. It reads: “The increase in buildings is so great in them all that they seem to a traveller to be one continued street; especially Tottenham & Edmonton. There is not anything more fine in their degree, than most of the buildings this way”. The quote dates back to his 1724–1726 travel text, where he described the historical growth of the area. Towards the end of his life in the early 1730s, Defoe expressed a desire in his private letters to move to Enfield to live close to his daughter Sophia and her family.

Who would have thought that I’d get to bus 191 and still find a whole host of new and undiscovered (to me) places? Each time I venture on my “bus day”, I have my itinerary in hand but truth be told, until I arrive at each stop, I don’t know how interesting or worthwhile each place that I had identified through my extensive research will be. And so it was that I found the wonderful Forty Hall with its deep history and royal connections by way of the now-demolished Elsyng Palace. The public art I found in Enfield Town as well as the Covid memorial garden with its accompanying quote on the pathway by Daniel Defoe, was another revelation. I had no idea that he had any connection with Enfield or Edmonton – I had come across reference to him on bus 21 when I visited his grave at Bunhill Fields and his bust and the original headstone from his grave at Hackney Museum on bus 38.

Toilets that are open to the public and free of charge:

• Forty Hall café
• Dugdale Arts Centre